Enough said about California--after all, we're on sabbatical! I arrived back in Munich last Thursday morning (7/29), had a four-hour nap, and, with Henry, headed off to Allianz Arena to watch the finals and third place football matches of the First Annual Audi Cup Tournament. In celebration of its 100th year in business, Audi sponsored a four-team tournament among the local favorite, FC Bayern Munchen, and AC Mailand (Milan), Manchester United FC (David Beckham's former team in England), and CA Boca Juniors (Buenos Aires). It was immaterial to us who won; we were there to experience international soccer first hand. Thinking that by leaving our apartment at 5:00PM for a 6:30 PM "kickoff", we would have a leisurely ride to the stadium, we were shocked by the scene at our nearby subway station. The platform was already packed with boisterous red-shirted, red-jacketed, re-hatted FC Bayern fans. When the train arrived at our station, it was filled with more similarly clad fans. The nine-station ride could not pass quickly enough considering the ease with which sweat gland secretions were transferred among the ridership. We were packed in so tightly, I had no place to hold onto a safety bar. Nevertheless, I had no worries about falling over--there was no room to fall! Woe to the few passengers who wanted to exit the train at the intermediate stops, and woe to the greater numbers of fans who wanted to get on! I was reminded of a joke my father used to tell with the punch line, "The king is coming!" As the soldiers in a stuffed room came to attention upon that pronouncement, even more soldiers could be inserted into the otherwise full room. The more modern analogy is the tram at Jackson Hole where an overload of skiers and snowboarders are vying for "first tracks".
One difference on the subway train was that the fans were constantly jumping up and down, chanting and singing FC Bayern cheers. Henry and I could join the bouncing and make lots of noise, but didn't have much of a clue what the cheers were! The arena itself is quite a sight, especially when it is lit up at night in FC Bayern red (see photo). 
The stadium is partially covered, with a retractable roof to cover the balance, if necessary. Our nosebleed seats directly behind one of the goals gave us a perfectly fine view of the field (see photo). Unfortunately, there was little scoring (1-1 and 0-0) and both matches ended with "shoot-outs", won by Boca Juniors and Bayern, respectively. I got the biggest kick out of a young boy (probably about three years old) sitting behind us. No matter that the local team wasn't playing; he regularly would yell as loudly as he could, "FC Bayern!" Yes, the cheers, the beer and hot dogs (i.e., wurst on buns), and the "wave" were ever present, but one thing that was new for us was the mandatory use of "Arena Cards" to pay for all food and drink purchases inside the stadium. One must "cash up" an Arena Card which is then used for payment at concession stands. The card has many benefits, especially for the stadium. Fans are prone to over-"cashing up", so the money is on the card whenever folks get the munchies or a beer craving. That's fine for the regulars, but not so for the one-time visitors like us. We either over-eat or end up with unspent sums on the card. The stadium wins both ways! Also, with the lines moving more quickly via cashless transactions, the concessionaires can sell to more fans! These footballers are mighty smart!The weekend brought Rod Franklin to town for another visit from Einsiedeln, Switzerland. And, once again, Muncheners were celebrating with yet another street fair.
This one, Auer Dult, dating back to the Middle Ages, takes place in Mariahilfplatz three times a year. Merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels, bumper cars, and other rides fill one corner of the huge, extended square, while food and drink booths are interspersed among an assortment of junk dealers (some masquerading as antique dealers), sellers of toys and suspenders (they go well with lederhosen!), tableware and cookware, and the largest number of "ginzu knife" and "miracle cleaner" booths east of the Del Mar Fair (see photos)! The heat of the sun sapped my energy, but I doubt I'll ever tire of street fairs and markets!
I'll also never tire of King Ludwig II's castles. Realizing that we are indeed in the home stretch of our stay in Munich, I traveled to Schloss Linderhof (see photos), via train and two buses, despite the rainy day forecast. The weather predictors were correct for a change, but it did not rain hard enough to dampen my spirits or slow down my camera trigger finger. Linderhof is the only castle Ludwig II managed to finish during his reign, and is a small scale version of Versailles. As is the case in his other castles, signs of Ludwig's adoration of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and composer, Richard Wagner, are present throughout.
The wood carvings, frescoed walls and ceilings, stucco bas relief, and tapestry, velvet, and porcelain furnishings, with abundant gilding in most of the rooms, come close to, but do not quite equal the ostentation of the Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee palaces. However, there is a brightness and ingenuity in the gardens and water features that I felt was missing at Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee (see photos). I especially liked Ludwig's "natural" air-conditioning. All Ludwig (or his servants) needed to do to cool off on warm summer days was open the windows overlooking a man-made hillside cascade of water tumbling into a fountain next to the palace (see photo). The cool breeze generated by the water worked like a charm. Whatever sense of self-importance Ludwig II might have felt as King of Bavaria, he was definitely a loner and an eccentric fellow.
Nearby the palace, he had an artificial grotto built with a stage and painted backdrop painted with a scene from one of Wagner's opera "Tannhauser". In front of the stage was a heated pool with a shell-shaped gondola, in which Ludwig sometimes had a servant row him around (see photo). He also had a special vantage point in the grotto from which he, as the sole member of the audience, could enjoy Wagner's opera pieces. The grotto was one of the first locations in Bavaria to be fitted with electric lights, which changed colors on demand. It also had an artificial waterfall that could be turned on and off at will. Ludwig's Wagner worship was further demonstrated in his building of a small hut on the palace grounds where he could contemplate Wagner's opera "Parsifal" in complete solitude (see photo). As a confirmed King Ludwig II "schlossophile", I left Linderhof a contented customer.
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